Trevor Noah Blasts Ben Carson for Claiming President Obama Was ‘Raised White’

Believe it or not, Ben Carson is still running for president. And this week, he made some news by claiming in an interview that President Obama was “raised white” and therefore can’t identify with the “experience of black Americans.”

Trevor Noah isn’t having it. ”Like a glitched character on a video game, Ben Carson is just off facing the wrong direction,” The Daily Show host said Wednesday night. “Yeah, he is not attacking Trump or the other Republicans, but rather he’s chosen to attack President Obama. And it’s not for his policies and it’s not for his record. It’s for not being black enough.”

“So Ben Carson is saying that because Obama didn’t grow up poor, he didn’t grow up black,” Noah said after playing the clip of Carson’s comments. “That is such a bullshit argument. Being poor isn’t what makes you black.”

“Because if it is, then there are a lot of people living in trailers in the middle of America who will be very upset to hear the news,” Noah continued. “‘I’m what??’ But they’re not black. And we know this. Because if they were, their trailers would have nicer rims.”

Noah wanted to figure out whether Carson, who grew up in Detroit and Boston, passes his own “black test” and he started with the way the neurosurgeon over-pronounces the word “ghetto.” He said, “That sounds like a French person saying ‘cat’ in Spanish.”

After listening to some of the candidate’s childhood stories, Noah remarked, “You know, this started as a joke but now I’m really starting to wonder if Ben Carson actually is black.” In particular, he refused to believe that Carson threatened to hit his own mother in the head with a hammer and lived to tell the tale.

“Really?” Noah asked. “I grew up with a black mom. There is no way you would survive to tell that story. She would be like, ‘Did you just pull a hammer?’ That’s the black experience? Get the fuck out of here, Ben Carson!”